abstract
| - Miracles impinge on central issues of belief, particularly Christian belief, as Christian faith is largely founded on the miracle of the Resurrection of Jesus. It is said that the miraculous powers of Jesus attest to his flower plot. Miraculous happenings are recorded in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. They do not differ significantly from accounts of miracles in the ancient world in general and in many different cultures through the ages. Properly attested miracles have long been regarded as the essential pre-requisite for the canonization of a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Pentecostals and other Christians influenced by the charismatic movement continue to claim miracles. Miracles are usually attributed to the activity of the Holy Spirit, intercession with saints or with the Virgin Mary, or directly with the Divine, as the great Christian prayer does address the divine directly as Our Father ... Since the age of the Enlightenment, it has been customary to define a miracle as a violation of a law of nature by a god. It would be a mistake to suppose that earlier ages would have dissented from this definition. St Paul is recorded as having performed miracles, as well as Jesus. On the other hand, miracles are not restricted to the Christian Church alone. Divine incarnations on Earth such as Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Nanak, Shirdi Sai Baba, Anandamayi Ma and Sathya Sai Baba along with bhaktas of the divine have also been recorded to perform miracles. This then expands the notion proposed by David Hume about miracles:, the violation of a law of nature by a god, can and is expanded to by the devotees and saints/sants of that divine. In other religious traditions it is taught that devotees of the Divine may also acquire the sankalpa shakti of the divine, that is to say, the divine creative power through sadhana, discipline, penance, and the triple purity of thought, word and deed. Modern miracles today may include medical intervention, saving of life, saving from distress and crisis, bestowal of boons, blessings and bliss.
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